LUCK helped our photographic finalists this week – as they just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

With professional snappers spending hours fretting over lighting and background to set up the perfect shot, these amateurs have been happy to grab a picture as and when they see it.

David Jeffries, 64, from Redditch, Worcestershire, managed to catch this stunning image of a group of otters frolicking by the waterside at Twycross Zoo.

“I’ve been taking photos for about 30 years, I’ve never taken classes, I just snap away at whatever I see,” he said.

“It wasn’t a case of waiting around for the perfect shot, I just saw these otters playing around and took the picture.”

Grandfather-of-one David also captured a shot of these ducklings watching on as their parents snaffled a piece of bread.

“This was taken at Arrow Valley Park,” he explained.

“I love being out in nature and I always take the camera.

‘‘I do a lot of fishing and take plenty of pictures while I’m out and about.

“It’s always good to capture things as they happen, rather than waiting around and setting things up.”

Carol Baker, 57, from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, also has two snaps in this week’s competition – a cheeky lemur caught on camera at West Midlands Safari Park and a colourful butterfly.

“I just love taking pictures of wildlife,” she said. “The lemur just sat perfectly while I was at the Safari Park and the butterflies were on a table in my garden.

“I have no professional training, I just aim my camera and hope for the best. It’s all luck really, but I enjoy it.”

The final photo this week comes from Nick Flint, 56, from Tamworth, Staffordshire, who took this colourful image of a bee pollinating flowers in his garden.

We are looking to publish the best pictures of all creatures great and small, captured on film around the Midlands. The winner of our competition will have their shots published in a special Sunday Mercury feature – and spend the day working with an award-winning staff photographer.